Effect of environmental factors on the flora of alluvial fans in southern Sinai

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the floristic and structural characteristics of simple alluvial fan vegetation of southern Sinai and to relate them to environmental variation. The main question addressed was: how does the floristic composition of fan habitats, species richness and life-form vary in relation to environmental change? Thirty-seven alluvial fans, randomly selected in two mainwadis(WadiFeiran andWadiDahab) were analysed quantitively. Two-way Indicator Species Analysis (TWINSPAN) classification and Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) were applied in successive stages of the data analysis to describe vegetational variation in relation to physical gradients. Seven main clusters of fans were defined on the basis of environmental variation. These clusters are divided into three main groups of species richness. Species richness varied along a moisture gradient. The richest fans were the driest habitats, indicating that maximum species richness did not occur at high moisture availability. The moisture gradient is a complex gradient correlated with elevation, slope, climatic aridity, soil texture and the nature of the soil surface. Fine sand, silt plus clay and calcium carbonate showed significant differences between the internal groups and subgroups of the first and second level of the TWINSPAN classification.     

应变软化在甘肃红柳河辉长质糜棱岩形成中的作用

本文论述的辉长质糜棱岩发现于甘肃北山红柳河蛇绿岩套中。在简单说明了糜棱岩的地质背景及特征、描述了变形岩石的显微构造特征之后，重点对糜棱岩形成过程中的应变软化机制作了论述。探讨了软化岩的存在、组构调整、粒度缩小，长石的动态重结晶，水以及主导变形机制的不断调整与转化等应变软化机制，在应力作用下使岩石逐步软化过程中所起的作用，得出这种糜棱岩是在拆离剪切作用下，应力在蛇绿岩中的软化岩石辉长岩中集中，从而形     

Influence of gas production induced volumetric strain on permeability of coal

Summary The gas permeability of a coalbed, unlike that of conventional gas reservoirs, is influenced during gas production not only by the simultaneous changes in effective stress and gas slippage, but also by the volumetric strain of the coal matrix that is associated with gas desorption. A technique for conducting laboratory experiments to separate these effects and estimate their individual contribution is presented in this paper. The results show that for a pressure decrease from 6.2 to 0.7 MPa, the total permeability of the coal sample increased by more than 17 times. A factor of 12 is due to the volumetric strain effect, and a factor of 5 due to the gas slippage effect. Changes in permeability and porosity with gas depletion were also estimated using the measured volumetric strain and the matchstick reservoir model geometry for flow of gas in coalbeds. The resulting variations were compared with results obtained experimentally. Furthermore, the results show that when gas pressure is above 1.7 MPa, the effect of volumetric strain due to matrix shrinkage dominates. As gas pressure falls below 1.7 MPa, both the gas slippage and matrix shrinkage effects play important roles in influencing the permeability. Finally, the change in permeability associated with matrix shrinkage was found to be linearly proportional to the volumetric strain. Since volumetric strain is linearly proportional to the amount of gas desorbed, the change in permeability is a linear function of the amount of desorbing gas.     

Recent Advances in Prediction and Processing of Strong Ground Motions

We present an overview of our recent results on utilizing small earthquakes in the earthquake engineering practice. Site-specific ground motion time-histories of large earthquakes can be successfully simulated using recordings of small earthquakes which are often referred to as 'empirical Green's functions' in seismology. Another important practical problem is whether and how these observations can be used in seismic risk studies which are based on empirical attenuation relations for ground motion parameters. We study a possibility of extrapolating attenuation relations for small earthquakes, to larger magnitudes using the data from the Garner Valley downhole array in Southern California. Finally we introduce efficient ground motion processing techniques in frequency- and time-domains and apply them to site response estimation.     

观测应变阶在地震应力触发研究中的应用

对中国钻孔应变台网观测到的昆仑山口西MS8.1大地震的应变阶资料的研究结果表明:① 很多观测值与静力位错理论计算值不符合；② 北方地震较活跃地区的很多台站观测到异常大的应变阶，而南方构造运动较不活跃地区的台站虽然也观测到地震波动，但是应变阶不明显. 由此推断，地震的触发（可能是动态触发）作用对远场的实际地震应变变化具有重要影响. 也就是说，远场的构造活动（可能是断层活动）是否曾被地震触发，可能决定当地的应变场变化的主要特征. 进一步对昌平台1999年3月11日张北地震与1999年11月1日大同地震的观测资料对比分析表明:断裂带的分布情况对实际地震应变变化有直接影响. 这证明观测到的异常大的地震应变阶可能是地震触发了当地的断层活动的表现.      

On the Incorporation of the Effect of Crustal Structure into Empirical Strong Ground Motion Estimation

This article has two purposes. Firstly, a validation exercise of the modal summation technique for the computation of synthetic strong-motion records is performed for two regions of Europe (Umbria-Marche and south Iceland), using a variety of region specific crustal structure models, by comparing the predicted ground motion amplitudes with observed motions. It is found that the rate of decay of ground motions is well predicted by the theoretical decay curves but that the absolute size of the ground motions is underpredicted by the synthetic time-histories. This is thought to be due to the presence of low-velocity surface layers that amplify the ground motions but are not included in the crustal structure models used to compute the synthetic time-histories. Secondly, a new distance metric based on the computed theoretical decay curves is introduced which should have the ability to model the complex decay of strong ground motions. The ability of this new distance metric to reduce the associated scatter in empirically derived equations for the estimation of strong ground motions is tested. It is found that it does not lead to a reduction in the scatter but this is thought to be due to the use of crustal structure models that are not accurate or detailed enough for the regions studied. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A hybrid method for size characterization of coarse subsurface fluvial sediments

This paper introduces and evaluates a novel method for ascertaining the grain‐size distribution of subsurface sediments that involves profoundly less sampling effort than standard methods. It is based on hybrid sampling principles previously applied to the construction of synthetic surface grain‐size distributions. The method is developed from an empirical demonstration of the approximate similarity of surface and subsurface grain‐size distributions when compared over a common range of sizes. Subsurface hybrid models are found to provide good facsimiles of grain‐size distributions de?ned using standard criteria and to yield distribution percentiles with millimetre accuracy. The technique is presented as an expedient alternative to standard methods for large, perennial gravel‐bed rivers. As this is a new technique, prudent application is advised in lieu of further investigation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

3-D rheologic model of earthquake preparation (II): Strain field and its applications

Introduction Based on the elastic theory of the hard inclusion (Dobrovolskii, 1991), we developed an inclusion theory of rheologic medium, and applied the results of bulk-strain field of a rheologic inclusion model to explain the spatial-temporal evolution process of earthquake precursors (SONG, et al, 2000). In the former paper (SONG, et al, 2003), we derived the viscoelastic displacement field of the rheologic inclusion model on the basis of the analytic expression of displacement field o…     

Developments of borehole strain observa- tion outside China

Introduction The Earth′s crust deforms in the regional tectonic stress field. Borehole strain observation isone important means for studies on the crustal deformation and the stress field. QIU and ZHANG(2002) have introduced the current situation of borehole strain observation in China. OutsideChina, early in September of 1968, Sacks of Carnegie Institution of Washington and Evertson ofUniversity of Texas firstly invented a borehole dilatometer in the world (Sacks, Evertson, 197…     

Strain field measurements of rubber by image analysis and design criteria for laminated rubber bearings (LRB)

Although seismic isolation rubber bearings in bridges and buildings have proven to be a very effective passive method for reducing earthquake‐induced forces, a detailed mechanical modeling of the rubber that is used in bearings under large strains has not been established. Therefore, a 3D model of failure behavior and the design criteria for the safety evaluation of seismic isolation bearings have not yet been developed. This paper presents: (1) correlation‐based template‐matching algorithms to measure large strain fields of continua; (2) a failure criterion for rubber; and (3) the design criteria for the safety evaluation of laminated algorithms, data‐validation algorithms were developed and implemented to eliminate possible unrealistic displacement vectors present in the measured displacement field. The algorithms were successfully employed in the strain field measurement of LRB and rubber materials that are subjected to failure. The measured local strains for rubber material at failure were used to develop a failure criterion for rubber. The validity of the proposed criterion was evaluated by applying it to the LRB; the criterion was introduced into a 3D finite element model of LRB, compared with the experimental results of bearings failure, and verified. Finally, design criteria are proposed for LRB for the safety evaluation. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.